Mistrial declared in Bundy ranch case

Judge: Prosecutors failed to disclose key evidence

LAS VEGAS — A federal judge declared a mistrial Wednesday in the case against Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, saying U.S. prosecutors willfully withheld critical and “potentially exculpatory” evidence from the defense.

Judge Gloria Navarro dismissed jurors and ended the trial against Bundy, his sons Ammon and Ryan Bundy, and militia member Ryan Payne, who are accused of leading an armed standoff with federal land agents in 2014.

Her ruling came more than a month into the trial, which has suffered multiple delays over the handling of evidence by the Nevada U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Navarro cited five key pieces of evidence that prosecutors failed to disclose. That evidence, Navarro said, was favorable to the defense and could have changed the outcome of the trial. It included:

❚ Records about surveillance at the Bundy ranch;

❚ Records about the presence of government snipers;

❚ FBI logs about activity at the ranch in the days leading up to standoff;

❚ Law-enforcement assessments dating to 2012 that found that the Bundys posed no threat;

“Failure to turn over such evidence violates due process,” Navarro said. “A fair trial at this point is impossible.”

Acting Nevada U.S. Attorney Steven Myhre, who led the prosecution, did not make any comment after Navarro’s ruling, and his office did not respond to interview requests Wednesday.

The judge’s rebuke is the latest in a chain of failures by federal prosecutors, who have been unable to secure clear victories against the Bundys and their supporters during three trials in Nevada and another in Oregon.

The Bundy Ranch standoff is one of the most high-profile landuse cases in modern Western history. It pitted cattle ranchers, anti-government protesters and militia members against the BLM over control of vast tracts of public land.

Ammon and Ryan Bundy, who were conditionally released from prison last month, called the outcome “vindication.” Walking out of the courthouse Wednesday, Ammon Bundy said the case stands as an example of government overreach and abuse — and shows how far the government will go to protect its own interests.

“This was a hard decision for Judge Navarro, and I applaud her for making it,” he said. “All I can say is I hope by going through this, I hope I have done enough to bring attention to this issue.”

Navarro suspended the trial two weeks ago and warned of a potential mistrial after prosecutors for the first time disclosed several documents that appeared to support defense claims about the government’s use of video surveillance and sniper teams during the standoff.

Defense lawyers filed motions to dismiss the case, arguing that the new documents provided critical evidence that would have allowed them to challenge the government’s charges, impeach government witnesses and lay the foundation for self-defense claims.

Federal prosecutors sat in silence Wednesday as Navarro spent about 45 minutes methodically laying out her reasoning for the mistrial. She cited legal standards and case law on the so-called Brady rule, which requires prosecutors turn over evidence prior to trial that could be used to exonerate defendants.

She said it didn’t matter whether the failure to disclose was intentional or inadvertent. But Navarro detailed several instances in which prosecutors denied evidence existed and used hyperbole to mock defense requests for information.

For instance, she said, prosecutors derided defense requests for a BLM internal affairs report into misconduct as a “bright shiny object ... that did not exist.”

But documents later showed an internal investigation had taken place, and had found misconduct.

Likewise, Navarro pointed out that during two previous trials of militia members who supported Bundy, prosecutors insisted there was no evidence that video surveillance and sniper teams were in use around the Bundy Ranch prior to the the standoff.

Prosecutors charged defendants with making false claims about snipers and videos to incite their supporters in the runup to the standoff. But documents that surfaced after the start of trial last month showed that there were tactical teams and multiple video cameras positioned around the ranch.